The US Navy and Raytheon have conducted two successful flight tests, demonstrating the moving target capability of the Tomahawk cruise missile.

Specifically, the first test demonstrated a Tomahawk cruise missile that was synthetically guided to hit a mobile ship target (MST), while the second was a reduced mission planning time in a realistic "call for fire" scenario.

Raytheon Air Warfare Systems vice-president Mike Jarrett said: "The combat-proven Tomahawk is unmatched in its capability.

"Raytheon and the US Navy are working together to enhance Tomahawk and provide the warfighter with even more options in the battlespace."

The first flight test was the result of an effort between the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWC-WD) at China Lake, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division and Raytheon Missile Systems.

"Raytheon and the US Navy are working together to enhance Tomahawk and provide the warfighter with even more options in the battlespace."

During this test, a Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile, which was fired from the destroyer USS Kidd, flew a pre-planned mission until a surveillance aircraft sent real-time target information to the Joint Network Enabled Weapons Mission Management Capability (JNEW-MMC) located at NAWC-WD.

Later, in the second test, the USS Kidd launched another Tomahawk Block IV missile on a ‘call-for-fire’ mission in support of shore-based Marines located on San Nicolas Island, Raytheon stated.

Recently, Raytheon has received a $270m contract from the US Navy’s Air Systems Command to support V-22 Osprey systems, testing and software.

Under this contract, Raytheon IIS division will deliver V-22 software support activity systems and software engineering, as well as avionics integration, testing and acquisition support.

Image: Tomahawk cruise missile can be launched from a ship or submarine and can fly into heavily defended airspace more than 1,000 miles away. Photo: courtesy of Raytheon.